NEWBERG, Ore. — Paul Losch was bundled up in a down jacket and sweater the Tuesday after his restaurant, Ruddick/Wood, closed indefinitely the weekend prior.
The restaurant’s concrete dining room floors felt particularly cold, and the usual sounds (and smells) of New American cuisine from the open kitchen were absent. On the tavern side, outdoor furniture and cleaning supplies cluttered the space, giving little indication that Ruddick/Wood’s 11-year tenure had fully ended. For Losch, the reality hasn’t fully set in.
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“It doesn’t feel real yet,” Losch said. “There’s still so much to do. Maybe when I hand over the keys for the final time, it’ll feel real, but right now, it’s just moving forward.”
Losch announced the restaurant’s closure in an Instagram post on Nov. 17, 2024. The post sparked an outpouring of supportive comments from residents and local businesses expressing their love for Ruddick/Wood. Over the following 10 days, the restaurant saw a surge in visitors coming to enjoy one last meal or drink.
“It’s a bit bittersweet,” Losch said. “The people who were in here all the time, they could see this coming. But it’s the people I haven’t seen in forever—it felt like, ‘Why come out now?’ you know? But at the same time, we wanted to have a good week and go out with a bang—make sure the staff is taken care of and getting paid. And it was so good to see everyone and celebrate what we did here. So yeah, it’s bittersweet.”
The Ruddick/Wood Beginnings
Known as a “chef-for-hire” in the Portland metro area, according to Portland Monthly, Losch managed kitchens across the region before settling in Newberg—a town he believed was poised for growth, particularly with the construction of the 99W bypass.
“It’s a great time to be opening in Newberg—it’s a town on the verge of a lot of change,” Losch said in a 2013 interview with Portland Monthly’s Allison Jones. “The Highway 99 bypass should hopefully start construction relatively soon, and the downtown area is gaining new life. There are several exciting projects in the works, and it really makes sense for Newberg to be more of a wine-country hub than it currently is, with its proximity to Portland.”
Losch and former business partner Kyle Lattimer, who co-founded the Uprooted food cart, opened Ruddick/Wood at 720 E. First St. in Newberg on Nov. 11, 2013. The mission, as stated on the restaurant’s website, was to source food ethically and responsibly from local farmers whenever possible. The menu changed with the seasons and the availability of ingredients.
“It was always a dream to open a restaurant since I was pretty young,” Losch said. “Even before I went to culinary school, I wrote an article early on, I think in eighth grade, about becoming a chef. I was 12 or 13.”
Ruddick/Wood quickly gained attention, partially thanks to Losch’s reputation in Portland but also just being in the right place at the right time. After being featured in Portland Monthly, the restaurant appeared in The Oregonian, USA Today, and other national publications—a significant achievement for a small restaurant without a PR department.
“It’s hard to look back and see any time as better than the other,” Losch said. “Running a restaurant is just consistently difficult. But that 2015 to 2016 timeframe was probably the peak for how busy we were. I think we were doing really cool and fun stuff.”
The Pandemic Years
As the town grew, Ruddick/Wood thrived, carving its niche in the Willamette Valley’s food and drink scene. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020.
While many businesses struggled and closed, Losch found opportunities in grant and relief funding to stabilize the restaurant.
“If we had to survive COVID with the business alone, we wouldn’t have made it,” Losch said. “But there was money floating around, so I kind of became a grant writer instead of a manager during that time to keep my employees paid and the restaurant open.”
Losch also recalls the 2020 Labor Day wildfires that burned more than 1.2 million acres of Oregon forest land, destroyed upwards of 5,000 homes, and covered the valley with a thick layer of smoke. Ruddick/Wood cooked food for anyone displaced or affected by the wildfires—a memory Losch cherishes.
“There was a certain purity to doing that,” he said. “We weren’t doing it for profit. People were volunteering time. It was about getting together, cooking food, keeping people fed, and having fun doing it.”
The pandemic also allowed Ruddick/Wood to improve its outdoor patio area. A grant funded the permanent roof structure that stands outside the restaurant today.
But setbacks followed. In April 2022, a fire in the wood-fired oven forced the restaurant to close for four months.
“It was a big hit,” Losch said. “We had insurance to pay lost wages, but what was supposed to be a six-week repair took four months. We lost almost our whole summer, and then we had to reopen during the slowest part of the year.”
The summer of 2022 was a decent year for tourism, but the years that followed dwindled.
The Closure
By 2024, it was clear Ruddick/Wood could no longer sustain itself. Summer revenue, crucial for winter survival, was dwindling. Sales in August 2024 were down 30% from the previous year, which had already seen a 20% drop from 2022. With his lease up for renewal, Losch decided it was time to close.
“Maybe it’s just that there are more places around town now, so the business spreads out more,” Losch said. “But there just aren’t busy weekends in restaurants anymore, as far as I can tell. So there was no reason to keep fighting for it.”
Despite the heartbreak, Losch is proud of Ruddick/Wood’s legacy, from competitive wages and sustainable sourcing to approachable, unique food.
On the last day, his son helped bus tables, a poignant moment.
“When I told him I was closing, he was super bummed,” Losch said. “He said, ‘Well, where’s my first job going to be now?’ You feel that disappointment and failure, but you just have to keep your head up, knowing it’s the right thing to do.”
Maybe one day he’ll get nostalgic and look back at his time creating and managing Ruddick/Wood as something positive. For now, Losch is focused on wrapping up operations. While he’s uncertain about what’s next for him, he hopes Ruddick/Wood’s closure reminds residents to support local businesses.
“[Ruddick/Wood] might be one of those things people don’t miss until it’s gone,” he said. “We did a farm-to-table thing here that’s pretty common in Oregon, but we tried to do it uniquely for a town that deserved it. I hope people remember to support their local businesses because you don’t know how close they are to closing until they close.”
Correction 12/4/2024 at 11:55 a.m.: The Oregon Wildfires were previously listed at 1.2 acres. The Oregon Labor Day Fires consumed more than 1.2 million acres. Newsberg regrets the error.
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